Lobbying 2016: Uncle Sam puts Iraqi Kurds on its payroll

Relations between Washington and Erbil have gotten so tight that the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) security forces are now on Uncle Sam's payroll.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced during a visit to Baghdad on April 18 that the United States would be contributing $415 million to pay the salaries and expenses of peshmerga fighters on the front lines of the fight against the Islamic State (IS). The agreement, formalized in a July Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Washington and Erbil, came just days after Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani visited Washington with hat in hand.

"The existential threat facing Kurdistan today is the state of our economy," Talabani said at an April 14 event at the Wilson Center. "It's important for our friends around the world to realize that this threat facing Kurdistan is great, this threat facing Kurdistan is real, and without immediate, direct support, the experiment of Kurdistan is in danger, but more troubling, the front line against [IS] is in danger."

The Pentagon's quick response is a testament to the close ties that have developed between the United States and the KRG since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. Much of the credit goes to the regional government's liaison office in Washington, established in 2006, and the stable of lobby firms under its authority.